Material handling attachment



sept. 12, 1967 K. SALNA 3,341,041

MATERIAL HANDLING ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 WM( f.5.1.4 IATTY.

sept.v121967 K SALNA 3,341,041

l MATERIAL HANDLING ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sme?l :l

/NVENTOR KARL SALNA m .ATTY

United States Patent O 3,341,041 MATERIAL HANDLING ATTACHMENT KarlSalna, Mundelein, Ill., assignor to International Harvester Company, acorporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 512,476 4 Claims.(Cl. 214-145) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE position following a diggingoperation.

Summary of the invention This invention relates to a material handlingbucket for tractor loaders and more particularly relates to a variablevolume bucket for tractor loaders affording increased dumping height,self-cleaning ability, more eicient cutting action, a greater range ofbucket uses, and simplied control features.

Conventional tractor loader vehicles may be provided with a variety ofbuckets to handle disparate material handling functions, such asfront-end loading, clam-shell operation, leveling, grading, andbulldozing. Alternatively, a two-section bucket embodying a frontsection pivoting relative to a rear section may be provided to handleall of these functions through selective angular adjustment of the twobucket sections.

Conventional buckets have attendant disadvantages which limit theirusefulness. Thus, a heavy and expensive rocker arm linkage is requiredto pivot the bucket sections relative to the tractor boom. These bucketdesigns also have a xed bucket capacity for loading purposes; it isimposibble to selectively vary the volume of the bucket to meet therequirements in a particular material. Also, conventional bucket bladeshave an objectionable cutting action while working in material. Thiscutting action is a shearing action with the blade moving into thematerial at an oblique angle to the plane of the blade. This limits thelength of teeth which may be attached to the blade and also increasesthe force required -to operate 4the bucket in the material. A moredesirable cutting action would exist where the blade edge moves directlyinto the material with a minimum of shearing movement.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a materialhandling attachment for a tractor loader which incorporates atwo-section bucket providing a variable volume capacity.

It is another object of this invention to provide a ma- Iterial handlingattach-ment for a tractor loader in which the attachment incorporates abucket having a front section pivoting relative to a rear sectionwhereby the cutting action of the bucket is improved in that shearingmovement of a blade mounted on the front section is substantiallyreduced.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a material handlingattachment for a tractor loader in which a two-section variable volumebucket is mounted on a floating linkage boom arrangement whereby dumpingis achieved by pivoting the front section away from the rear section,thus achieving an increased dumping height as compared to present loaderattachments while eliminating the need for a heavy and expensive rockerarm assembly.

Ace

Another object of this invention is to provide a material handlingattachment for a tractor loader comprising a variable volume bucket withfront and rear sections operable between digging, carrying and dumpingpositions and in which means are employed to automatically terminateoperation of the sections -upon their reaching the carrying position sothat the operator may quickly and easily manipulate the loader controlsfor bringing the bucket to the dumping position.

Yet another object is to provide a material handling attachment for aloader Vehicle comprising a bucket having front and rear sectionspivoting about a common axis and in which dumping is achieved bypivoting the front section ahead of the rear section.

Description of the drawings Other objects and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when thefollowing specifications are read in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of a tractor loader vehicleincorporating a preferred form of the material handling attachment ofthe present invention with a twosection bucket attachment illustratedserially in digging, carrying, and dumping positions and with asuperimposed schematic diagram of the automatic bucket positioningcontrol as contemplated herein;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged side elevation view of the attachment of FIGURE1 showing the two-section construction with the front section pivotingserially through three positions relative to the rear section;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the attachment of FIGURE lillustrating the carry position with engagement of the -control switchfor terminating operation of the front section with respect to the rearsection; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view similar to FIGURE 3 illustrating theattachment in the dumping position wherein the material is emptiedthrough the space resulting after pivoting the front section forwardlyof the rear section.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings,and particularly FIG- URE l, an exemplary tractor loader vehicle isindicated generally at 10. The loader vehicle 10 comprises a framesupported by front and rear pairs of wheels 14 and 16, respectively. Amaterial handling bucket attachment 18 is mounted on the forward end offrame 12 for vertical swinging movement by means of a boom showngenerally at 20. With the bucket attachment 18 in the digging positionas shown in the full line illustration of FIGURE l the boom 20 iscradled between the front pair of wheels 14 The boom 20 comprises aparallelogram linkage construction whereby the bucket 18 is raised andlowered with a `substantially constant attitude relative to the vehicle.A pair of transversely spaced-apart lower boom arms 22 are eachpivotally connected at one end to frame 12 and at their other end tobucket 18. Similarly, a pair of transversely spaced-apart upper boomarms 24 are each pivotally connected at one end to frame 12 and at theirother end to bucket 18. Vertical pivotal movement of boom 12 is effectedthrough operation of a pair of extensible hydraulic rams 26 which areeach pivotally connected at their head end to frame 12 and at their rodend to arms 22. Selective extension and retraction of rams 26 isproduced by manipulation of control handle 28 which in t-urn operates aconventional open-center control valve 30 to direct fluid under pressurefrom a hydraulic pump (not shown) into a selected one of the fluidconduits 32 or 34 leading respectively to the head and rod ends of therams 26.'

Turning now to FIGURE 2 the bucket attachment 18 is shown in greaterdetail. The attachment comprises a two section bucket providing avariable volume capacity. A rear section 36 is pivotally mounted to thefree ends of boom arms 22 and 24 and a front section 38 is in turnpivotally mounted to the top of the rear section. The rear section opensforwardly in a scoop-shaped conguration defined by an arcuate rear wall40 rigidly secured between a pair of side walls 42. A pair of rearwardlyextending brackets 44 are secured to the rear wall. Pins 46 and 48provide a pivotal connection between boom arms 22 and 24, respectively,and the brackets 44. A forwardly directed blade 50 is mounted on theleading edge of the rear wall 40.

The front section 38 comprises a bottom wall 52 underlying rear wall 40and rigidly secured between a pair of side walls 54. The side walls 54are pivotally mounted to the upper ends of side walls 42 by means ofpins 56. Side walls 54 are in a close fitting, overlapping relationshipwith side walls 42 of the rear section, while the rearward arcuateportion of bottoms wall 52 is in sliding contact with the blade 50.Pivotal movement of the front section relative to the rear section willautomatically clean adhering material from the inner surfaces of thewalls on the front section.

The front section thus defines a substantially U-shaped member whichsubtends the rear section and pivots in relationship thereto between thedigging position 38, the carrying position 38', and the dumping position38".

A cutting blade 55 is preferably secured to the leading edge of thebottom wall 52; conventional bucket teeth (not shown) may also beattached to the leading edge of the bottom wall 52.

Pivotal movement of the front section 54 is effected through operationof a pair of extensible hydraulic rams 58. Each of the rams 58 ispivotally connected at its head end to a respective bracket 44 by meansof pin 46 and at its rod end to a pin 60 mounted on the side Wall 54adjacent its leading edge. A brace member 61 is secured on either sideof the bucket 18 and extends between the outer ends of pins 46 and 56.

The control circuit for operating the rams 58 is illustratedschematically in FIGURE 1. Manipulation of control handle 62 operates aspool of control valve 30 in a well-known manner to direct hydraulic uidunder pressure from a hydraulic pump (not shown) into a selected one ofthe fluid conduits 64 and 66. Conduits 64 direct fluid into the rod endof ram 58 for retraction thereof while conduit 66 directs fluid into thehead end for extension of the ram.

Forward pivotal movement of the front section 54 about pins 56 producesa more direct cutting action for the blade 53 as compared toconventional buckets. With a conventional bucket the front section wouldpivot about pins carried by the ends of the boom arms, thereby creatingan objectionable scraping or shearing action of the blade against thematerial. In applicants invention the pivot center is much higher withrespect to the blade, thus permitting the blade to penetrate thematerial directly with a minimum of shearing action. This affords fastercutting of material and also requires less power for the diggingoperation as compared to conventional buckets. Furthermore, longer teethmay be mounted on the leading edge of blade 58 with a consequentincrease in ability to dig compacted material.

The invention contemplates an automatic feature to terminate pivoting ofthe front section relative to the rear section when the front sectionreaches the carry position 38'. This automatic feature provides asimplitied means to enable the vehicle operator to manipulate thecontrols during a digging operation so that the bucket accuratelyachieves its desired volume capacity in the carry position.

To provide this means a conventional cam operated normally-openmicroswitch 68 is provided to energize a detent mechanism 70 through anelectrical circuit 72. The microswitch 68 may be mounted at anyconvenient position on the bucket and is preferably shown mounted on theupper margin of the right side wall 42. A camming surface 74 is formedintegral with the upper portion of the front section side wall 54 andengages the plunger 76 of microswitch 68, as illustrated in FIGURE 3.Microswitch 68 in turn completes the circuit 72 from a source ofelectrical power (not shown) to energize a conventional solenoid forreleasing the detent mechanism 70. The detent mechanism 70 is broadlyconventional and preferably is of the type disclosed in applicationSerial No. 461,866, filed June 7, 1965, by Joseph H. Kouefes, andassigned to The Frank G. Hough Co.

In operation, assuming that the boom 20 is lowered and the bucket is inthe position indicated at 18 for entry into the material, the operatorwill manipulate handle 62 to position the spool of valve 30 fordirecting fluid into conduit 66 for extension of rams 58. Detentmechanism 70 will operate to releasably hold the spool of valve 30 inthis position. As the ram extends, the front section 38 pivots forwardand progressively fills the bucket with material until it reachesposition 38. In this position microswitch 68 is closed by cam 74,thereby energizing circuit 72 for releasing detent 70. The spool ofvalve 30 will now return to its open-center position, thus terminatinguid ow through conduit 66 and stopping the forward pivotal movement ofthe front section. With the bucket now automatically filled withmaterial at its maximum capacity the operator will manipulate controlhandle 28 for raising the boom 20 and lifting the bucket to the carryposition 18', and sequentially to the dump position 18". In the dumpposition the operator will manipulate the control handle 62 to positionthe spool of valve 30 for directing fluid through conduit 66 for furtherextension of rams 58. The front section 38 will now pivot forward of therear section, thus allowing the material to drop from the bucket asillustrated in FIGURE 4. As best shown in FIGURES 1 and 4 it is apparentthat no part of the bucket moves downwardly during the dumping operationso that material can be loaded over high elevations, such as adjacenttruck-trailer beds.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, steps andarrangement of parts, which have been described and illustrated in orderto explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled inthe art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed inthe appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A variable volume material-handling attachment for use with a tractorloader vehicle having a boom, the attachment including the combinationof: a bucket having a back section mounted on the boom and a frontsection mounted on the upper margin of the back section for pivotalmovement about a transverse axis between digging, Carrying and dumpingpositions; the back section having a rear wall for scooping and carryingthe material; the front section having a bottom wall adapted to pivotunder the rear wall whereby the volume of the bucket is selectivelyvaried between the digging and carrying positions, the front sectionfurther being adapted to pivot forward of the rear wall whereby thematerial is dumped from the bucket; and, means to selectively pivot thefront section between said positions including an extensible hydraulicram connected between the front section and the rear section, a sourceof uid under pressure, control means to selectively direct the iluid tothe ram for extension and retraction thereof, and means to terminateoperation of the control means responsive to movement of the frontsection to the carrying position.

2. A variable volume material-handling attachment for use with a tractorloader vehicle having a boom, the attachment including the combinationof: a bucket having a back section mounted on the boom and a frontsection mounted on the upper margin of the back section for pivotalmovement about a transverse laxis between digging, carrying, and dumpingpositions; the back section having a rear wall for scooping and carryingthe material; the front section having a bottom wall adapted to pivotunder the rear wall whereby the volume of the bucket is selectivelyvaried between the digging and carrying positions, the front sectionfurther being adapted to pivot forward of the rear wall whereby thematerial is dumped from the bucket; and, means to selectively pivot thefront section between said positions including at least one extensiblehydraulic ram connected between the front section and the rear sectionwhereby extension of the ram pivots the front section forward andretraction of the ram pivots the front section backward; a source offluid under pressure; control means having a valve normally biased to aneutral position and selectively movable between a first operatingposition to direct the fluid to the ram for extension thereof and asecond operating position to direct the uid to the ram for retractionthereof; detent means to releasably hold the valve in the rst operatingposition; and, means to release the detent means responsive to movementof the front section to the carrying position whereby the valve isbiased to the neutral position and operation of the ram is terminated.

3. A variable volume material-handling attachment for ruse with atractor loader vehicle having a boom, the attachment including thecombination of: a bucket having a back section mounted on the boom and afront section mounted on the uppermargin of the back section for pivotalmovement about a transverse axis between digging, carrying, and dumpingpositions; the back section having a rear wall for scooping and carryingthe material; the front section having a bottom wall adapted to pivotunder the rear wall whereby the volume of the bucket is selectivelyvaried between the digging and carrying positions, the front sectionfurther being adapted to pivot forward of the rear wall whereby thematerial is dumped from the bucket; means to selectively pivot the frontsection between said positions; said back section includes a rst pair oftransversely spaced-apart side wall supporting the rear wall and mountedon the boom; the front section includes a second pair of transverselyspacedapart side walls enclosing the rst pair of side walls andsupporting the bottom wall; and the back section further includes ablade mounted on the front edge of the rear wall and in contact with thetop surface of the bottom wall whereby pivotal movement of the frontsection relative to the back section removes adhering material from thebottom wall.

4. A variable volume material-handling attachment for use with a tractorloader vehicle having a boom, the attachment including the combinationof: a bucket having a back section mounted on the boom and a frontsection mounted on the upper margin of the back section for pivotalmovement about a transverse axis between digging, carrying, and dumpingpositions; the back section having a rear wall for scooping and carryingthe material; the front section having a bottom wall adapted to pivotunder the rear wall whereby the volume of the bucket is selectivelyvaried between the digging and carrying positions, the front sectionfurther being adapted to pivot forward of the rear wall whereby thematerial is dumped from the bucket; means to selectively pivot the frontsection between said positions; the back section includes a rst pair oftransversely spaced-apart side walls supporting the rear wall andmounted on the boom; the front section includes a second pair oftransversely spaced-apart side walls enclosing the first pair of sidewalls and supporting the bottom wall; the means to pivot the frontsection includes a pair of extensible hydraulic rams, each of the ramsbeing mounted at its head end to a irst side wall and at its rod end toa respective second side Wall; and, a pair of brace members, each of thebrace members being connected at one end to the head end of a respectiveram and at its other end to the bucket at the transverse axis.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,280,439 4/ 1942 McLean.2,812,595 11/1957 Drott 37-117.5 3,070,246 12/ 1962 Johnson et al.214-146 3,252,606 5/ 1966 Pryor 214-767 HUGO O. SCHULZ, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A VARIABLE VOLUME MATERIAL-HANDLING ATTACHMENT FOR USE WITH A TRACTORLOADER VEHICLE HAVING A BOOM, THE ATTACHMENT INCLUDING THE COMBINATIONOF: A BUCKET HAVING A BACK SECTION MOUNTED ON THE BOOM AND A FRONTSECTION MOUNTED ON THE UPPER MARGIN OF THE BACK SECTION FOR PIVOTALMOVEMENT ABOUT A TRANSVERSE AXIS BETWEEN DIGGING, CARRYING AND DUMPINGPOSITIONS; THE BACK SECTION HAVING A REAR WALL FOR SCOOPING AND CARRYINGTHE MATERIAL; THE FRONT SECTION HAVING A BOTTOM WALL ADAPTED TO PIVOTUNDER THE REAR WALL WHEREBY THE VOLUME OF THE BUCKET IS SELECTIVELYVARIED BETWEEN THE DIGGING AND CARRYING POSITIONS, THE FRONT SECTIONFURTHER BEING ADAPTED TO PIVOT FORWARD OF THE REAR WALL WHEREBY THEMATERIAL IS DUMPED FROM THE BUCKET; AND, MEANS TO SELECTIVELY PIVOT THEFRONT SECTION BETWEEN SAID POSITIONS INCLUDING AN EXTENSIBLE HYDRAULICRAM CONNECTED BETWEEN THE FRONT SECTION AND THE REAR SECTION, A SOURCEOF FLUID UNDER PRESSURE, CONTROL MEANS TO SELECTIVELY DIRECT THE FLUIDTO THE RAM FOR EXTENSION AND RETRACTION THEREOF, AND MEANS TO TERMINATEOPERATION OF THE CONTROL MEANS RESPONSIVE TO MOVEMENT OF THE FRONTSECTION TO THE CARRYING POSITION.